Sewing foot for sewing machines

ABSTRACT

A sewing machine foot for guiding material in respect to a reciprocating sewing needle includes a substantially upright shank portion, a relatively flat sole support extending outwardly from the lower end of the shank portion which includes a forward end having spaced apart legs defining an opening therebetween for the needle and a sole below the sole support which has a resilient web connection to the sole support. The sole includes spaced forwardly extending feet with a space therebetween leading to a transversely extending slot for the passage of the needle which is located below the open space of the legs of the sole support. The sole support legs provide downturned edges forming stops to limit the amount of pivotal movement of the sole in respect to the sole support.

United States Patent 119.]

Meier SEWING FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES [75] Inventor: Giinter Meier, Weingarten,

Germany,

[73] Assignee: Pfaff Haushaltmaschinen GmbH,

Karlsruhe-Durlach, Germany 22 Filed: Feb. 21, 1973 211 Appl.No.:334,279

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 8, 1972 Germany 2210996 52 us. 01. 112/235 [51] lnt. Cl D05b 29/00 [58] Field of Search....'..'. l12/235,'60, 6l

[56] References Cited I A UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 659,543 10/1900 Parkes 112/235 2,968,267 l/l96l Johnson ..112/'235 1111 3,823,679 [451 July 16, 1974 Primary Examiner-Richard J. Scanlan, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-McGlew and Tuttle 57 i ABSTRACT A sewing machine foot for guiding material in respect to a reciprocating sewing needle includes a substan-' tially upright shank portion, a relatively flat sole support' extending outwardly from the lower end of the shank portion which includes a forward end having spaced apart legs defining an opening therebetween for the needle and a-sole below the sole support which has'a resilient web connection to the sole support. The sole includes spaced forwardly extending feet with a space therebetween'leading to a transverselyextending slot for the passage of the needle which is located below the open space of the legs of the sole support.

The sole support, legs provide downturned edges forming stops to limit the amount of pivotal movement of 1 the sole in respect to the sole support. 1

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 SEWING FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention v This invention relates in general to sewing machine accessories and, in particular, to a new and useful sewing machine foot in which a sole is provided with a resilient web which interconnects.and'supports the sole from a sole support which is formed on the lower poriton of a shank.

2. Description of the Prior Art Sewing feet are known which include a sole which is movable about a pivot axis which is transverse to the feed direction of the work and such a sole is generally supported by two bearing lugs on its upper side by means of a bearing pin on a projecting rigid sole'support of the sewing foot shank. Because it is usual to construct the sewing feet of several different parts, sewing feet of this kind cause relatively high production costs. This is due to the fact that narrow'dimensional tolerances must be adhered to in the proper fitting together of the separate parts of the sewing foot and also in the manufacture of the parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, there is provided preferably a one-piece sewing foot which includes a sole which is pivotally connected to a sole support by an elastic web interconnection between the two parts so that during pivoting, the relative position between the passage opening for the needle and the movement path of the needle will vary only alittle. The construction avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and, in addition, it can be formed as a single piece, for example, by injection molding in one operation.

The invention provides a sewing machine foot which includes a shank portion which has a sole support extending outwardly from the lower end thereof and which is connected to a sole by a web formation which advantageously comprises two spaced apart-web leg portions which extend upwardly from the sole to the sole support and which are arranged on each side of the transversely extending slot in the sole which is provided for accommodating the movement of the needle. The

construction of the web is such that the pivot'axis of the sole lies closely above the surface thereof. It was found, in fact, that by placing the pivot axis lower, the pivot region of the sole is increased and the danger that the needle access slot will be limited by the displacement of the sole sufficiently to cause the area bounding the slot to strike the needle is reduced. The web legs are arranged directly adjacent each end of the slot passage for the needle so that as compared with sewing feet which have conventional articulated sewing feet with equal size of the passage opening, an equally great range of the foot sole is achieved.

. A particularly advantageous construction of the sewing foot of the invention is an arrangement in which the longitudinal axis of the web and the vertical center line of the slot opening of the needle lie in a single plane and the web formation is interrupted in'the intermediate region of the passage opening. With such a construction, the pivot axis of the sole lies exactly above the center of the passage opening for the needle, and

the immediate vicinity of the stitch-forming point. Thereby, a contraction and shimmying of the work can be avoided with the greatest certainty.

A further particularly advantageous design of the sewing foot, according to the invention, is a construction in which the elastic web joining the sole to the sole support is tapered inwardly in a direction toward the sole in respect to the sides which extend transverse to the feed direction of the work. Due to this measure, the pivot axis of the sole lies lower, and hence, still closer to the point most favorable for its operation, and this coincides with the center line of the passage opening for the needle extending at the center of the sole crosswise to the feed direction of the work.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved sewing machine foot which comprises a substantially upright shank portion, a relatively flat sole support extending outwardly from the lower BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings: I FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of -a sewing foot constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is aside elevational view of the sewing foot shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 indicating the maximum pivot range of the sewing foot sole.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein, comprises a sewing foot, generally designated 1, which is advantageously made of a single part, preferably an injection molded plastic part, of a viscous elastic plastic, for example, of an acetylcopolymer.

In accordance with the invention, the sewing foot comprises a substantially uprightshank portion la,

with a sole support portion 2 connected to the lower end of the shank portion, and extending outwardly therefrom'in a direction opposite to the direction of feed of the material to be sewn, indicated by the arrow N. A sole 3 is connected'to the sole support 2, by elastic web connection means, generally designated 4.

In the preferred arrangement, the sole support 2 includes spaced apartforward leg portions 6 and 6', havingdownturned front edges which form stops limit-ing the advantageis realized that the contact force exerted by the sewing foot onto the work acts on the work in The sole includes forwardly extending guide toes 3a and 3b which define a slot therebetween extending in the direction of thefeed N, which connects into a transverse needle access slot 7 for the passage of the needle. The slot 7 is relatively narrow in the direction of feed N, and the slot lies in the center between two web sections 4a and 4b of the elastic web connection means 4. A sewing machine needle 8 is shown in dotted lines in the downward position of operation in FIG. 3, in which it moves through the slot 7. The longitudinal axis of the web 4 and the vertical center line M of the slot 7 lie in a single plane. The two toe portions 3a and 3b define an incision or slot 9 therebetween, which narrow to a smaller passage 10, which connects into the slot 7.

A feature of the construction of the joining web for joining the sole 3 to the sole support 2 is that each web leg 4a and 4b is tapered inwardly proceeding from the sole support 2 to the sole 3, so that the narrowest portion of the connecting webs4a and 4b lies directly over the surface of the sole 3. With such an arrangement, the sole 3 moves under the action of vertical forces which engage at the front or rear end of the sole-to cause a pivoting of the sole relative to the sole support about an axis which-lies very closely above the upper face of the sole 3. Because the longitudinal axis L of the web 4. crosses the center line M, which in straight stitch sewing coincides with the movement path of the needle 8, the relative position between the slot 7 and the movement path of the needle 8 changes relatively little when the sole 3 is pivoted. Consequently, the sole 3 can be pivoted within a relatively large angular range even though for the purpose of satisfactorily sewing thin flexible material, the slot 7 presents a comparatively narrow passage opening.

While a specific embodiment of the. invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A sewing machine foot for guiding material in a feed direction respect to a reciprocating sewing needle, comprising a shank portion, a rigid sole support connected to said shank portion, and a rigid sole portion having an elastic web connected to said sole support opening for the needle, said web being interrupted in the region of the passage opening.

3. A sewing machine foot for guiding material in respect to a reciprocating sewing needle, comprising a shank portion, a sole support connected to said shank portion, and a sole portion having an elastic web portion connected to said sole support portion and being movable relatively thereto, said web portion extending upwardly from said sole portion to said sole support and being tapered-inwardly in a direction from said sole support to said sole portion, said sole support and said sole portion having a passage opening for the needle in the vicinity of said elastic web portion.

4. A sewing machine foot for guiding material in a feed direction in respect to a reciprocating sewing machine needle, comprising a substantially upright shank portion, a relatively flat rigid'sole support'extending outwardly from the lower end of said shank portion in the direction of the material feed, a rigid sole below said sole support extending in the direction of the material feed and having a slot intermediate its width for the needle to pass therethrough, and a solid but. elastic web connected betweensaid sole and said sole support and disposed with its longitudinal axis transverse to the feed direction of the material. I

5. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 4, wherein said sole support has a forward portion with spaced apartlegs defining an open space for the needle therebetween, the slot of said sole being located below the open space, said elastic web means comprising a web portion located on each side of the slot connected between said sole support and said sole.

, 6. A sewing machine foot, according to claim '4, wherein said sole support has a forward portion with spaced apart legs defining an open space for the needle therebetween, the slot of said sole being located below the open space, said elastic web means comprising a web portion located on each side of the slot connected between said sole support and said sole, the spaced apart legs of said sole support having portions forming stops limiting the pivotal movement of said sole in re spect to said sole support, said web portions being tapered inwardly from said sole support to said sole so that the narrowest portion'lies directly above the surface of said sole, said sewing machine foot comprising a single integral part.

7. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 6,

wherein said single integral part forming said foot comprises an injection molded plastic. I

8. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 7,

wherein said plastic comprises an acetal-copolymer. 

1. A sewing machine foot for guiding material in a feed direction respect to a reciprocating sewing needle, comprising a shank portion, a rigid sole support connected to said shank portion, and a rigid sole portion having an elastic web connected to said sole support portion and being movable relatively thereto, said web portion being a solid connecting part extending upwardly from said sole portion to said sole support and being disposed with its longitudinal axis transverse to the feed direction of the material, said sole support and said sole portion having a passage opening for the needle in the vicinity of said elastic web portion.
 2. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 1, wherein said web has a longitudinal axis which lies in the same plane as the vertical center line of the passage opening for the needle, said web being interrupted in the region of the passage opening.
 3. A sewing machine foot for guiding material in respect to a reciprocating sewing needle, comprising a shank portion, a sole support connected to said shank portion, and a sole portion having an elastic web portion connected to said sole support portion and being movable relatively thereto, said web portion extending upwardly from said sole portion to said sole support and being tapered inwardly in a direction from said sole support to said sole portion, said sole support and said sole portion having a passage opening for the needle in the vicinity of said elastic web portion.
 4. A sewing machine foot for guiding material in a feed direction in respect to a reciprocating sewing machine needle, comprising a substantially upright shank portion, a relatively flat rigid sole support extending outwardly from the lower end of said shank portion in the direction of the material feed, a rigid sole below said sole support extending in the direction of the material feed and having a slot intermediate its width for the needle to pass therethrough, and a solid but elastic web connected between said sole and said sole support and disposed with its longitudinal axis transverse to the feed direction of the material.
 5. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 4, wherein said sole suppOrt has a forward portion with spaced apart legs defining an open space for the needle therebetween, the slot of said sole being located below the open space, said elastic web means comprising a web portion located on each side of the slot connected between said sole support and said sole.
 6. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 4, wherein said sole support has a forward portion with spaced apart legs defining an open space for the needle therebetween, the slot of said sole being located below the open space, said elastic web means comprising a web portion located on each side of the slot connected between said sole support and said sole, the spaced apart legs of said sole support having portions forming stops limiting the pivotal movement of said sole in respect to said sole support, said web portions being tapered inwardly from said sole support to said sole so that the narrowest portion lies directly above the surface of said sole, said sewing machine foot comprising a single integral part.
 7. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 6, wherein said single integral part forming said foot comprises an injection molded plastic.
 8. A sewing machine foot, according to claim 7, wherein said plastic comprises an acetal-copolymer. 